The third installment of the rebooted “Star Trek” series (following 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness), Star Trek Beyond is an exciting action adventure thriller that, despite lots of spectacle, still manages to offer much-needed characterization and humor.
In the 23rd century, the crew of the USS Enterprise is on shore leave at Starbase Yorktown when they’re ordered to rescue the crew of a starship stranded on the planet Altamid. Already feeling stuck in a rut, Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) contemplates transferring to another post after the mission, while First Officer Mr. Spock (Zachary Quinto) copes with the loss of Ambassador Spock and the break up of his relationship with Lieutenant Uhura (Zoe Saldana). So they and the rest of the crew get caught off guard when the ship is suddenly ambushed by the massive fleet of the mysterious Krall (Idris Elba), Seems Kirk has a relic that Krall needs to destroy Yorktown.
Marooned on Altamid, Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban), Scotty (Simon Pegg, who co-wrote the screenplay), Sulu (John Cho), Chekov (the late Anton Yelchin) and the rest of the surviving crew members must find a way to stop Krall from destroying Yorktown. Their only ally is Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), an alien scavenger who has her own agenda…
As noted, this film has LOTS of spectacle. The attack on the Enterprise by Krall’s fleet is awesome and the audience really gets a sense of danger. Likewise, the climax of the picture will keep viewers on the edge of their seats, even though it is difficult to believe music from the 20th century could stop the bad guys!
The cast is good (the scenes between Spock and McCoy are a riot), and director Justin Lin, working from a screenplay by Pegg and Doug Jung, keeps things moving so fast that viewers won’t be able to catch their breaths. And the dialogue! The best line has to be “You gave your girlfriend a tracking device?!?”
Fun from start to finish, Star Trek Beyond is definitely recommended!
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